Hi, I'm having a big and irritating problem here with my PowerDirector 8. I try to explain my problem here clearly because english is not my motherlanguage, but I hope you understand me anyway.

So, I'm making a video project with powerdirector 8, and suddenly when I reopened my project, some videoclips have gone all black, and instead of file name there reads only 0,0,0. Video clips are MKV type, and I have not changed clips names or removed them of my computer. I have used those clips before but this is the first time when the powerdirector suddenly changes them all black. I have tried to shut down the powerdiretor and have opened it again later but the problem is still here. I have even tried to produce my project as it is now, but the program crashes every time after the 15% of producing.I have not had this problem before, and I can't even tell you how irritating and frustrating this problem really is. I think that this is not the way how this program should work.
So, is there any way to make those black clips back to the clips they were before or do I really have to do my video again? I have tried everything I can on my own.

So, I'm making a video project with powerdirector 8, and suddenly when I reopened my project, some videoclips have gone all black, and instead of file name there reads only 0,0,0. Video clips are MKV type, and I have not changed clips names or removed them of my computer.

OK, you have not removed the original Video clips, they are still in the same location (on your hard drive) as when you added them to the PD Media Library. Correct?

Did you try the Browse button when the project is first opened?

If there is something wrong with the MKV file(s) you may have to convert them to some other format.

In my most recent case, most video clips are fine, but the video "Try 2 with BAT.TOD" has been "turned black". Why?

Note: "Try 2 with BAT.TOD" is still in the media room, but it doesn't have the green check mark anymore. [Obviously].

I can create a new project with "Try 2 with BAT.TOD" and it works perfectly, so we can be sure there's no issue with the .TOD file itself.

All of my my video files in all of my projects are .TOD files created in the same video camera.

I've spent a long time matching the audio to the clips to the videos in this project, so I'm totally afraid of re-adding "Try 2 with BAT.TOD" to the time line and redoing the cutting, transition effects etc. etc.

My PD8 creates shadow files for my .TOD named like this "Try 2 with BAT_0.MPG". Checking out the ShadowEditFiles folder, I can see "Try 2 with BAT_1.MPG", "Try 2 with BAT_2.MPG" etc.

Another project, using exactly the same .TOD files, opens well. This working .pds text file doesn't have any .MPG file references.

The project file with issues, has a few .MPG shadow file references.

Is this related to my issue?

A while ago, I was greeted with the same "black clips". That time however, it was because I moved my folder. So, I opened the .pds file and changed my clips paths. Hey presto! The black clips disappeared.

We can all be sure this latest issue isn't caused by changing the .TOD file's name or location.

Without knowing your system specs to give a full picture, you have 2 basic choices - use shadows or don't.

In both PD8 and 9, my personal experience, with both 32bit XP AMD dual core and with 64 bit win7 AMD PhenomX6, of the shadow files has been "mixed"- so mixed I never, ever use them. Unless you cannot edit at all without them, I would turn them off, live with the constraints, edit slowly, and maybe alter your workflow by producing part projects or pre-produce segments and bring them back in to the final project.

They are a great idea but, for me at least, very, very - VERY- temperamental.

Cheers
Adrian

He dreamt of all the underwater sights he would capture with his new camera and housing. AMD Phenom X6, Win 7 64bit, ATI 4650.

It's because PD8 didn't save your project correctly, or when it opened the project, PD8 *believed* it couldn't find the movie clip.

To confirm you have the same issue save me: Your movie timeline looks great with transitions, effects etc, but the video clips are black. Correct?

If you're new to computers, it may take a while to fix, but you can get your movies back!

To fix this issue:

I'm using Windows 7, but this will be the same in XP.

1) Make sure you can see the extension of the files your using, by unchecking "hide extensions for known file types". In your windows folder: Alt+T > Folder options > "View" tab > Uncheck "hide extensions for known file types" > Ok

2) Make a copy of your .pds project file. [Click and drag into a white space in your windows folder]

3) Open your .pds file in notepad:

A) [Right click the .pds file > Open with > Notepad.] If you can't find notepad in the list:

B) [Right click the .pds file > Open with > Choose default program > "Notepad" [you may need to click the little down arrow on the right to show all the programs] > Uncheck "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file." > OK]

4) Notepad is opened and you can see a lot of text! I suggest you don't try to read it all!

*** Do not add any new lines or spaces, because you may destroy this file! ***

5) Let's check you have the same issue as me. Search for IDREF="-1" [Ctrl+F > IDREF="-1" > Enter]

6) If you find one great! The text around the "-1" should look like this:

CLIP ID="6" IDREF="-1" NAME="Try 2 with BAT.TOD" START="249...

"Try 2 with BAT.TOD" is the name of the black video clip! Now, we just need to change the -1 to the video's ID. Easy! But, what *is* the video's ID?

Thank you all for the answers! I would never expect that you would help me so fast, thank you all! Especially you, Andy, you solved my problem, thank you so much! Now I can finally make vids again, thank you!

Hello Carl312,
...and thank you mari275 for raising this problem
Carl, I am not a computer person but I found your explaination very interesting and I tried it.thanks. Problem is, I get to details in Search but when I enter...IDREF="-1" the search window comes back "not found"!..where can I go from there?
Thanks for your detailed answer on possibly resolving the "Black clip" problem
Note......my files are .mts....would that make a difference? And what about srill files?
Darcy

darcy13 wrote:Hello Carl312,
...and thank you mari275 for raising this problem
Carl, I am not a computer person but I found your explaination very interesting and I tried it.thanks. Problem is, I get to details in Search but when I enter...IDREF="-1" the search window comes back "not found"!..where can I go from there?
Thanks for your detailed answer on possibly resolving the "Black clip" problem
Note......my files are .mts....would that make a difference? And what about srill files?
Darcy

Hello Darcy,

You may need to change your method of searching.

If you are using Windows 7, there is a search box at the top of every Windows Explorer window, you can get that window by Start > Computer > choosing a drive. Now I have no idea where you have stored your video files, so if you search the whole computer for the missing files name, you should find it somewhere on your computer.

It you know where you put your video files, that is even better.
If your videos are not on the computer's hard drive, you must copy them from your source and put them on the hard drive.

Then you can maybe follow Andy's procedure.

However, I would go about it differently,

When you open the PDS file in Powerdirector, do you get the window that has the buttons of Browse and Cancel?

If you do cllick the Browse button and browse to the location you have found your videos and load them.
After you have located the videos and they are on the timeline, be sure to save a new Project file. The new project file will now have all the correct information for opening your videos.

Thanks Andy!!! I have been pulling out my hair for a week with this! Problem solved thanks to your solution. For anyone having the problem of not finding IDREF="-1", I had the same problem at first. Here's what the problem was in my case: I had previously made a copy of the corrupt file while in PowerDirector. I opened that one in Notepad. For whatever reason, it didn't have the IDREF="-1" in it. I then opened up the original .pds in Notepad, cut and pasted the text into a new file. Sure enough, the IDREF="-1" was in that one. I then followed Andy's instructions, and viola!